Su Wei didn’t stay long, after all. Su He seemed to grow weary, said she was tired, and walked back toward her bedchamber without a backward glance.
And she simply followed silently behind, enduring the stinging pain coming from her neck, stepping forward without a word. Only when her master was bathing did she borrow a mirror, clearly seeing the bruising on her neck.
Some of it was from Su He’s grip, some from the stone wall pressing against it.
Su Wei lightly touched her neck with her fingertip, then let it drop weakly. After thinking for a moment, she pushed the door open and walked out. Her movements were very quiet. Her gaze sharply fixed on a spot. She called out softly: “Who’s on duty today?”
No one paid her any attention. Su Wei lowered her eyes, dejected. A moment later, she mustered her courage and walked toward them. “Why are you ignoring me?”
“Don’t come closer.”
Su Wei’s eyes lit up. It was Shadow Seven’s voice. She obediently stopped in place but saw Shadow Seven in the darkness, her eyes complex as she gestured in sign language.
That year, when Su Wei was brought back, she wasn’t very willing to speak. She was sullen all day long. Shadow Seven was still young then and thought they had picked up a little mute, so she specially learned sign language. Over time, they both understood quite a bit.
Shadow Seven was telling her—Don’t come looking for us anymore. You can’t.
Can’t?
Su Wei looked completely lost. Why couldn’t she?
She blinked, staring at her helplessly. Su Wei couldn’t hold it in anymore. She didn’t understand why these loved ones were ignoring her; it even felt like they were excluding her.
But Su Wei had always been very obedient. She bit her lip, waved at them slightly, turned around, and went back into the bedchamber.
However, her hearing was so poor now that she couldn’t even hear when Su He finished bathing.
Su Wei saw that Su He was only wearing an outer robe, loosely tied with a sash. She immediately straightened her back and knelt without hesitation. “Master, this subordinate deserves to die ten thousand deaths.”
She was supposed to wait outside while her master bathed. When Su Wei had gone out, she had forgotten about her hearing loss, subconsciously assuming Su He wouldn’t be done so quickly.
“Where did you run off to? Didn’t want to come back?” Su He’s fingertips toyed with her damp hair, water droplets sliding down her neck. Her robe wasn’t particularly long, but not short either—just covering half her thighs. She propped up her chin and tapped the bed frame with her knuckles.
Su Wei immediately understood the meaning. Su He had done this gesture to her many times before. She shuffled over on her knees. Before she could even get close to the bed frame, she was forcefully pressed down beside it by her master.
“Speak.” Su He’s eyes turned cold. “Didn’t Gu tell you to wait? What’s the point of keeping watch if you leave?”
Su Wei felt the strength in Su He’s hand. Her jaw trembled. “This subordinate wanted to find… the other Shadow Guards.”
Su He didn’t release her grip. “Find them for what? Want to go back?”
“No.” Su Wei forcibly suppressed the blood welling up, closed her eyes, and steadied her voice. “It’s just that they seem to be avoiding me.”
She liked liveliness. Being alone was too lonely, too pitiful.
Hearing this, Su He slowly released some pressure. She considered for a moment, then lifted Su Wei’s collar, making her raise her head, and observed the person’s expression thoroughly.
Su Wei’s face was pale as death; she clearly wasn’t feeling well at all.
“Su Wei.” Su He didn’t pay much attention to her condition. Her fingertip rubbed against Su Wei’s lip, and her hand forced its way inside. She bent down slightly and looked into the Shadow Guard’s eyes. “Don’t be sad. They’re doing it for your own good.”
Su Wei kept her eyes open, looking at Su He harmlessly. Upon hearing these words, a flicker of confusion passed through her eyes, but it was quickly replaced by complete focus on her master.
Su He leaned down, her tongue touching Su Wei’s lip. The Shadow Guard visibly trembled but still struggled to hold still. A look of amusement rose in her eyes as she admired Su Wei’s reaction. She added: “Because you are Gu’s person.”
Unfortunately, Su Wei still didn’t understand. In her thinking, they were all her master’s people, right? There shouldn’t be any difference.
Su He saw this and scolded: “Stupid.”
Her fingers then slid to Su Wei’s injured neck. Her words carried a hint of self-reproach. “Does it hurt? Gu didn’t know her own strength. You mustn’t blame Gu.”
“I won’t. This subordinate has never blamed you, Master.” Su Wei’s expression immediately turned serious. “Please don’t say such things.”
Su He chuckled softly, and soon her laughter grew increasingly unrestrained. Her inner garment slowly slipped, revealing a fair, rounded shoulder. Su Wei glanced once and looked away hastily.
“Is Gu beautiful?”
“Yes.”
Su Wei’s hand was seized by Su He. At first, she was stiff and dared not move. Only after being reprimanded did she slowly relax. Her hand was guided to her master’s waist, where the sash could be undone with a single pull, fragile and defenseless.
Su He told her: “Help Gu untie it.”
Her fingertips trembled, hooking onto the sash—slowly, with restraint, she undid it. Her lower abdomen rose and fell slowly. Su Wei turned her head away, not daring to look.
The tips of Su Wei’s ears were red; she didn’t even know where to direct her gaze.
But at this moment, Su He asked her: “Can you paint?”
How could someone as unrefined as her paint? So she shook her head. “I cannot.”
“Then…” Su He came closer, leaning next to her ear, carrying that familiar fragrance. She took Su Wei’s earlobe into her mouth. Su Wei pressed her legs together and closed her eyes. She heard her master’s voice. “Gu will teach you. Go get the paintbrush.”
Su Wei couldn’t fathom her master’s thoughts, nor understand why the idea had suddenly struck her. But she obediently complied. Su He said to get the paintbrush, so she brought only the paintbrush.
Following her master’s instructions, she lay down on the bed, carefully curling up her legs. The clothes she wore today made her look younger, though truth be told, she was indeed not that old.
Su Wei’s clothes were half removed. She was tense, her posture not very graceful—at least not like a girl’s, but more like a man’s sitting posture.
She swallowed, looked at the thick liquid on the tip of the brush, and couldn’t bear it, turning her head away.
But the next second, she hurriedly used her hand to block it. “Master!” Su Wei’s voice cracked uncontrollably. She shook her head, a rare plea in her eyes. “Don’t… put it in. It’s too strange.”
Su He didn’t listen to her. She held Su Wei down and kept wetting the brush tip, wetting it over and over, until it could trace line after line on her skin.
“Su Wei, you’re too quick.”
Su He was somewhat surprised. Su Wei simply raised her arm to cover her eyes; she didn’t want to hear or see anymore.
“It’s fine. If you can’t learn, Gu will teach you slowly. There’s still plenty of time. No rush.”
.
Su Wei no longer remembered when she fell asleep. When she woke up, she found herself lying on her own bed. A brand new set of clothes was placed at the foot of the bed.
Her master seemed very keen on giving her new clothes to wear.
Today’s clothes were blue, a bit like the color of the sky, embroidered with a very small, very cute sparrow. Su Wei looked at them, gently put them on herself, slowly shuffled her steps, and glanced at her reflection in the mirror. Her brows gradually curved downwards.
She liked her master quite a lot; she had prepared many beautiful clothes for her.
Although the color wasn’t her favorite, she was still very content.
“Su Wei.”
Su He’s voice drifted over. Su Wei immediately knelt to greet her master: “This subordinate greets my Master.”
Su He told her to rise and had a palace attendant pour tea. Her gaze fell upon Su Wei. “Your health isn’t very good.”
Su Wei instantly realized what she meant. Her expression froze for a moment, then she quickly reacted to the meaning. “This subordinate will train well and will not disappoint your expectations, Master.”
“That’s not what Gu meant.” Su He curled her lip, and she said gently, “Take your medicine on time and let your wounds heal.”
If they didn’t heal, it would be too dull to play. After a couple of tosses, she’d break.
Su He raised her teacup and blew on it. She signaled the palace attendant to invite someone in. “Do you still remember what Gu said last night?”
Su Wei couldn’t hear Su He’s inner thoughts, so she naturally assumed her master was showing concern for her. Her smile was radiant. “I remember. You said you wanted to paint a real painting on this subordinate’s body.”
“Correct.” Su He glanced at her approvingly, concealing the anticipation in her eyes. “So Gu has summoned the person here.”
Su Wei paused momentarily, then turned to look at the stranger walking in.
.
She was taken to an empty room, which had been cleaned very thoroughly. She removed her clothes, exposed her back, and lay face down on the bed, obediently watching Su He beside her.
But her master was speaking with someone else and didn’t notice her.
“Let Gu design the pattern.”
The visitor naturally wouldn’t refuse, laying out all the tools and brushes. “Your Majesty, please.”
Su He raised an eyebrow and selected a suitable brush. She walked over and sat down beside Su Wei. Her voice was unprecedentedly tender and gentle. “Gu doesn’t want to paint a bird.”
“Do you have any good ideas?”
Su Wei realized Su He was asking her. She really thought about it for a moment but couldn’t come up with an answer. “No, this subordinate doesn’t really understand.”
She didn’t even know why this was being done; she was just following orders.
Su He let out an “Aiya,” sounding truly regretful, but her eyes held only excitement. She said, “Then Gu will design it.”
She was highly talented, dabbling in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. A birdcage was meticulously painted by her on Su Wei’s back. The Shadow Guard’s back wasn’t smooth; it was covered in scars accumulated over years, crisscrossing and intersecting, looking quite fearsome.
But Su He didn’t mind. After finishing, she called the person over. “Look, is this acceptable?”
That person was also a woman. She looked down and immediately bowed. “Your Majesty’s painting is exceptionally well done.”
Su He was in a good mood and accepted her flattery. She even considerately moved aside, looking on with full expectation at the woman’s next actions.
Only Su Wei still didn’t know what was about to happen. When a piercing pain shot through her back, it was only then that she belatedly reacted. She grabbed the edge of the bed tightly. In truth, she had no tolerance for pain and was very afraid of it. It was just that being a Shadow Guard for so long meant she could no longer voice any pain.
Drenched in sweat, she silently let the woman tattoo the birdcage onto her back.
But even now, she didn’t know what the image on her back was.
“Does it hurt?” Su He walked before her, looking down at her slightly. “Gu allows you to cry out.”
Su Wei lifted her head with effort. She gave Su He a bleak smile, her voice still steady. “It doesn’t hurt, Master. So you wanted to tattoo a picture on me.”
Unfortunately, it was on her back, where she couldn’t see it.
Su He looked down at her and thought it was simply too pitiful. She still reached out her hand and took hold of Su Wei’s hand that was gripping the bed frame. She told the Shadow Guard: “Hold onto Gu. Don’t hold back the pain.”
And at this moment, that empty birdcage—it was unclear who it caged, or whose freedom it had completely stripped away.
